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Mid-week Meltdown: So This Is Vegan Cheese?

It's fricken Wednesday, a fricken busy week, and I'm fricken tired. I
dragged my fricken scaredy-cat doggy around the neighborhood and my
fricken arms are tired. I can't think about cooking now. I just want
some fricken pizza with some fricken gooey cheese!

Tortilla pizza with sauce, vegan mozzarella and herbs. The good news is it's low in cholesterol!

One of my goals this month is to find a vegan substitute for cheese. There is a rule of thumb in cooking that everything is better with bacon. Well, if you're cooking vegetarian, everything is better with cheese. But what about vegan? What's that magic ingredient?

A top contender for magic vegan ingredient might be Smart Dogs... at least they got the consistency right!

I really don't think it's vegan cheese. At least not the one I tried today, Follow Your Heart brand Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative Mozzarella. It honestly doesn't taste like anything. It crackles in the toaster and bubbles like real cheese. And then it turns back into plastic shreds when you take it out. Have these people ever eaten cheese? Because, by-the-way, it tastes much different than tofu. Or plastic.

I hope there is a good mozzarella alternative out there, because there's nothing easier when you're beat than resorting to pizza. But half the guilty, comforting joy of giving in to pizza is the cheese. Good thing the tomato sauce is my favorite part!

Comments

In my pre-vegan days I was a cheese fiend, and I thought it would be difficult to go without. But once I went vegan I was surprised to learn that I didn't crave it--in fact I now think that most recipes are better without it (yes, even pizza!). If you're looking for something that stretches and melts, Daiya is pretty good (go light with it on a pizza though, because it has a sticky consistency to it). Hope you find something you enjoy :)

I'm a Cheezly fan but I know it's hard to get in the US. Have you tried Daiya? Most of my US friends think it's the best vegan cheese for topping pizza. There's always the option to make a cashew cheese though or to top your pizza with pesto. I know it took me a while to get my head (taste buds!) to come around to vegan cheese!

If I can find Daiya, I will try it. But I also agree that pizza is better without it. I'll be making a cheese-less Za'atar seasoned pizza soon, and I know it's fine without cheese. Like bruschetta pizza... which is totally yummy, no cheese needed.I will actually try making cashew cheese this month as well, it's on the to-do list, hopefully I'll get time!